Katie Loesch-Meyer

The Mirena wasn't tested in women without children, so the label can't say that it is safe for women who have not had children. You can sitll use it, but it is "off label" use. The other one, similar to mirena, was specifically tested on women without children, is a little smaller, and only lasts 3 yrs.

I refuse to even watch the Penny episode. In fact, I mainly started watching the show to see Zsalynne. I had seen her on the documentary "All of Me" on Itunes, and it broke my heart to see that her husband insisted they spend her surgery money on a house instead. And then made her pose in skimpy clothes to earn more money. Just hurt me. So I looked her up, to see what happened, and that's how I found the show. So whatever else is wrong with the show, it paid for Zsalynne to get her surgery, and that makes me happy. AND she left that loser of a husband, so that makes me happy too. I want to see the "where are they now" episode, but it's not on Hulu or Youtube yet, so if anyone wants to fill me in on how she's doing now, I'd love that

My surgeon said he's only put in one lap band in the last year, but he's taken 150 out, put in by other surgeons. He also said the only doctor he knows that likes putting them in admitted it was for the money. He makes money putting in the lap band, makes money again taking it out, and then makes money a third time doing an RNY or sleeve later. (needless to say, that doctor is NOT at a center of excellence! No names were mentioned, but I have a guess who it is, we have a stand alone clinic here with billboards and such)

No surgery yet, but my husband did express some concerns. Mainly about safety.But when I mentioned all the cute lingerie I'd be able to fit into he got more on board. He loves lingerie that sounded weird. He loves ME to wear lingerie, lol! And I havne't worn any in years because I'm sorry, it just isn't sexy on me at this point.

I'd forgotten about the Nuva ring, I used that a few kids ago and really liked it. And it would mean no worries about absorbing a pill. I can't use it myself right now, as I'm breastfeeding my toddler, but would use it again if need be. That said, there is an IUD out now that is specifically tested and designed for women without any children, Skyla. http://bedsider.org/features/261-hello-skyla-getting-to-know-the-newest-iud

How hard is it to not drink before/during/after eating? I've always had at least one full glass of Water with my food. I enjoy it so much more. Of course, look where that got me Was it really hard to adapt to?

Thank you for posting. I'm still nursing my 2 yr old (all my kids weaned between 3 and 4 yrs old) and was a bit worried. But he only nurses a bit, and I don't make much milk anymore anyway, so sounds like I should be fine.

Hi all, I'm new here. I am investigating surgery, probably roux-en-y because I have pretty bad reflux already and that's the surgery that is supposed to help fix that. I've called my insurance several times, and finally, after 5 different people have a printed list of what the qualifications are! And, I meet them! It says BMI of 40 or 35 with comormidities. I have a BMI of 40 and GERD, which they specify as one of the comorbidites. Then is says, "documentation of weight management attempts, and inability to sustain weight loss." I am printing out past weight watchers billing reports, and Jenny Craig is sending me something as well. I'm thinking that should work? It doesn't say it has to be medically supervised, or give a length of time. Then it just says I have to have a dietary consultation, and a psychological evaluation, which sounds pretty standard. And "No history of drug or alcohol use, or drug and alcohol free for greater than one year." I have had a few drinks, but honestly, other than one or two occasions haven't had a full drink in at least 3 yrs.....not because I hate alochol but when I'm supervising my kids I don't have time for booze, lol. Would it be unethical to say "no drinking" when I've probably drank once in the last few years? I can't imagine it counts that I've had a sip of my husband's drink, or 1/4 glass of something here or there sporadically. I imagine they are just ruling out any chances of alcholism.

I asked about sleeve sx with GERD. I had been leaning towards rny because I do have GERD. He said well, if the GERD is from a hiatal hernia, we will fix the hernia, and fix the GERD. If the GERD is from obesity, we will fix that as you lose weight. If it is from a weak LES valve I will leave some extra "dog ear" flap of stomach at the top of the sleeve and wrap it around the esophogus to create a stronger valve. Anyone ever heard of a doctor doing this?

I wanted to go ahead and schedule a physical, as I'm overdue, and figured I could get the letter of medical necessity done at the same time. I'm wondering, does it have to be from an MD? I normally see the PA or the ARNP. They can get me in with the PA fairly soon, but it will be a month to see the actual doctor. Anyone know?

I believe you are correct that they are looking for people who abuse alcohol. Your couple of drinks should have no bearing on your being approved. The nurse who took my history found it extraordinarily amusing when I told her that enjoyed a wine cooler every year during the Super Bowl! Haha! I'm not against alcohol, I just have been pregnant or nursing for the past 5 years, so that limits things quite a bit. And when you are chasing the kids, turn around, and your drink is now warm and flat, you have no desire to finish it. Plus, I'm always dieting and it is too many calories. The only indulging I have had is special occaisions, and man I regretted the champagne I had, felt like crap the next day. My husband had the same amount and felt fine, I just don't do well. I'm too darn old for booze!

If he is going out of town that afternoon he may not have wanted to do an open operation (more complex) right before leaving. So rescheduled you, kept and moved his laproscopic patients earlier, and was able to leave that afternoon. He may have been uncomfortable leaving you after an open operation.

ok. I ended up going and ahead and scheduling with the PA, and figure that should be good, he works with the MD, and the letter would be on the practice letterhead. I typed up a sample letter for them, based on the one the surgery center has but specific to me, with my diet attempts, etc. Hopefully that will work. I've spent so long trying to hide how fat I am it is weird trying to convince people I'm fat enough instead.

I can TOTALLY tell! And not just your face, but your belly is MUCH smaller! Wow!

I can't help but wonder if, if I do this and it goes well, it might spur my father to do it too. He's older though, about 60. But he's always been overweight since I was little. He is obese now, and has type 2 diabetes. he's had one heart attack, but doing well cardiovascularly right now. He has lots of follow ups, etc. But i'd love to see him get off all his meds and have less pain, be able to be more active with the grandkids, etc. He's on cholesterol meds too, which make him a bit spacy (known side effect) and such, and I just think he'd be so much happier. He likes healthy food, he just eats too much of it. Anyway, I'm wondering if you losing weight spurred anyone else to do this.

I've only told some people about looking into surgery. My mom, although supportive, said things like "well, I know your Dad's main problem is he reads when he eats." Um, Dad is more obese than I am. I have a BMI of 40, he's got to be at least 50. He didn't get that way JUST from reading at some of his meals, mom. She said it like, well, if I would just make sure I don't read while I eat (and I do, sometimes), I'd lose all the weight. No, no I wouldn't. Hell, I've tried it. I'e done the mindfullness things. I've done EVERYTHING. Another favorite was the "have you done the whole 30 yet?" from a friend. Yes, I've done paleo. I lost 15lbs. Then started gaining again, while still eating paelo and even when getting more strict. I've also done vegetarian, vegan, atkins, weight watchers, and Jenny Craig. Or, "have you thought about _______ exercise equipment?" I have a gym membership. At one point I was working out 6 days a week. For an hour at a time. Exercise won't fix this, especially now that my feet hurt and cramp every time I try. I did walk 45 minutes on the treadmill yesterday, and even at a slower speed that i used to use my knee was tender the rest of the day, and my feet were sore later. Heck, if it was about exercise just carrying around an extra 100lbs should be burning all sorts of calories! Basically, I get it. I need to eat well and move more. But if that alone did the trick, I'd be thin. For whatever reason, my body doesn't respond right. Gut microbes or plastic pollution or hormones, who knows. But even when I was on my feet lifting 40lb animals and such for 10 hours a day as a vet tech I lost all of 5lbs, then put on 30lbs. If I didn't need surgery, I wouldn't get surgery. (not to mention there is ZERO evidence that anything works on obese patients other than surgery)

Did you have your surgery at Celebration, in Florida? I'm looking at them right now. They seem to have the most comprehensive "whole patient" approach that I can find as far as follow up care, etc. Although I know very little about the program at ORMC, which also seems to be a center of excellence now. If you chose between them I'd love to hear what made you choose Celebration, and what your experience was like there, overall. (I'm looking at bypass)

I want to be away from my family as little as possible. I will do anything and everything I can (follow orders, etc) to go home asap, but I have no idea what is normal for RNY surgery. The hospital I'm looking at does use the DaVinci robot, which is supposed to cut your hospital stay, but I don't know what that adds up to. I will be attending an informational session soon. This is one of my biggest concerns, and thought you all could help me out. I realize it seems silly, but although the teenager won't miss me, I've never been away from my little ones overnight. Youngest is 2 and still sometimes wakes up in the night wanting a drink, or to be settled down by mama. I know my husband can handle it, but still. I honestly just hate hospitals. I even had homebirths with the last two kids, to avoid being in one, lol. So...is the idea of just one night in the hospital realistic at all? I'm 38 yrs old, almost 39. Healthy for the most part, BMI of 40. Only complications are GERD, joint pain, etc.

LOL, that's when you make a note/comment in the document to check that info later, and keep going But I still get what you mean.

As far as I can see there is NOTHING about doing a diet first! I thought I'd have to do the 6 months thing, but it looks like not!!! Just have a BMI of 40 (I do) and use an in network surgeon and hospital (I will). I thought this was something that would happen 6 months from now. But it could be much sooner!!! I'm going to go to the information session this week and find out more. Now, a big question is, if I get bypass, how weird/out of it will I be for a while? I'm an author, and just signed a book deal. I have deadlines coming up, will I still be able to write? How long should I plan on being out of it, not up to speed, etc? I want to be realistic. I have two big deadlines in April, then after that the next in in August. I'm not worried about that one as much, I'll only be working on one project then, whereas I have to turn in the first three chapters of book 3 and the synopsis for it in mid April, and then turn in the completed manuscript for book 2 at the end of April. I've never worked on two books at once before, so this is going to be kind of hard, I think. Im wondering if the best plan is to schedule surgery for May? That gives me time to finish my first two deadlines, then time to recurperate before I have another. My husband has a lot of deadlines in April too, so he won't have as much time to take care of the kids until after that. As I'm typing, I'm realizing that's the best plan. But I don't want to wait We will have some more money then too, I think, from my advances.

Ok, so after a few days I should be ok to say, make lunch for the kids, fold laundry, pick up the house a bit? Not picking up the 2 yr old will be tough, but daddy and big brother will have to step in for that. Oh, and I bet I can't drive for a while, huh? Oh, and duh, my mom would love to come help out during the day, totally forgot she could do that. Ok, this is doable. As for writing, yes, it's tough. I entered a contest, which helped me to finsih. Having the deadline pushed me.

Ok, so if I did the surgery say, mid May (trying to squeeze a family trip camping right after the deadlines in May, to decompress), and took a week or two off totally, then eased back into it, I should be ok. Even if I wrote half speed for a while, that should be fine. Also, what about taking care of my kids? I have a 15yr old, a 5 yr old, and a 2yr old. I'm home full time with them (which makes writing interesting, lol). My 15 yr old is homeschooled, so he will be home as well. He's capable of picking up the 2 yr old,, changing diapers (although potty training just started and is going well, so that probably won't be an issue), etc. And the 5 yr old is very responsible (my only girl...she's a second mother to the 2 yr old). How long will I be unable to care for them?

Thanks! I write contemporary romance. My contract is with Harlequin, and my first book, The Puppy Proposal will be out September 15th!

So, about me. I'll be 39 in a few months. I'm 5'1 and 213lbs naked first thing in the morning, lol. BMI is right at 40. I have GERD (no hiatal hernia according to GI series done almost two decades ago) that I have to take nexium for or I'm in agony. My teeth are all messed up from the reflux (we assume that is what the issue is....no cavities until after I had my first kid and the reflux got bad, then 7 in one visit, since then multiple issues, etc). My feet hurt when I exercise. They cramp up worse than labor pains almost. I've had bouts of plantar fasciitis that flare up if I exercise too heavily, and I wear special shoes to keeep it at bay. My last labwork was about a year and 20lb or so ago, at the time I was blessedly still healthy on paper, ideal blood sugar and ideal cholesterol/trigs. (bad cholesterol was actually below normal, as were trigs). I eat healthy food, I just eat way too much of it. But I can't see how I can keep this up...if I keep gaining weight I'm GOING to end up diabetic, if nothing else. The scariest thing is that my father and his twin and his father all had heart attacks in their 40's. That terrifies me. He also has diabetes now, barely controlled even with meds. And his mom (who I look just like) had type 2 diabetes as well. And was also morbidly obese and often super obese. She was a a tough, strong willed lady. That she couldn't win the battle with food shows me just how hard it is. If it was just "will power" she'd have been thin. I've lost weight before, 70lbs once, but it always comes back, with more. Lately I lose 10 and gain 15 or 20. I started researching diets to see what has the best long term results and the answer is, none. None do. Nonehave good long term results. Then I looked at medication. But dear lord, most have horrid side effects and people only lose about 5% of their body weight! Which led me to the idea of surgery. I could put it off, I'm not that "sick" yet. But then I think, won't I heal better if I'm NOT sick? And if I wait until I have diabetes, won't that mean I end up with some permanent damage to my body? So maybe I should just do it. I have zero confidence anything else will work. I've been dieting since Jr high at least, and if something was going to work long term I think I would have found it by now. I've done Atkins, Paleo, WW, Vegetarian, Vegan, Jenny Craig, etc. I'm running out of diets. Anyway, I started out thinking lap band, because it isn't permanent and is the least extreme. But I'm reading conflicting things about it and GERD/acid reflux. And stuff about esophogeal issues. I've had esophogeal spasms in the past and they SUCK. That feeling of nothing going down, and basically foaming to get the slime out of my throat that won't pass. Lap band seems like it will cause that in a lot of people, and that sucks. Also, the results long term seem iffy.....at best. 25% don't lose the weight? Gastric sleeve seems like a good safe option, and reduces grehlin, so that sounds awesome. I see a lot of people with great results. But research tells me it isn't a good choice for people with GERD. That leaves bypass. I went into this thinking, well, I won't do bypass. That's too extreme. But, it's the best option for GERD from what I'm reading. In fact, doctors that treat GERD patients are telling their patients to have bypass instead of reflux surgery, because it's a better cure. So that seems like the best option. But...it scares the crud out of me. Honestly, I got weirded out the first time I had a filling....the idea of my body being modified freaks me out a bit. But, i got over the fillings, and I assume I'd get over this. Any thoughts? Also, there are a few places near me that do this. Two hospitals claim to be centers of excellence, but when I look them up they are not listed? And if they both really are, how do I choose between them? One seems to have a better program in place, I think, but that's judging from a website. Complicating things is my hsuband's fear of me doing this. His mother died from surgical complications a few years ago...after a back surgery her bowl ruptured. Now, she was in poor health anyway, a pill addict, had diverticulitis, etc that no one knew. But still. Also, she had bypass a long time ago, and she was an awful person who made awful decisions a lot of the time. Generally, we never do the same things she did, so this is a bit weird to him. But we can get past that, and he's supportive of me doing what I need to do. Just scared. Edited to ask: if you did Laproscopic Roux en Y, how many nights were you in the hospital? I've never been away from my 2 yr old before, overnight. Or my 5 yr old, but she'd be fine. I know my local hospital uses the Davinci robot which shortens hosptial stay, but I don't know what that means. I'm hoping for only one night, if at all possible.

Thanks so much. It really helps to hear people's stories. I definitely will go to the information sessions. And they also have support groups that you can attend even before surgery to talk to people.